Better alternatives to Hawaii Land Tours?

[piccer18]

We'll be docking in Honolulu, Kauai, Maui and Kona.  Are the private land tour operators as good as, or cheaper than, the HAL sponsored tours?  First trip ever to Hawaii in February.  Thanks.

[CruiserBruce]

Come over to the Hawaii board for non-HAL tour info. Private tours are almost always cheaper, and have yet to hear of a private tour that wasn't better than ship's tours. The Hawaii board is here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/37-hawaii/

[kazu]

You can book the Chief's Luau individually and they will pick you up at a central spot and return you.  We really enjoyed it.

 

Hawaii board as suggested by CruiserBruce & your roll call (there may be others arranging tours) are two great resources indeed.

[Alberta Quilter]

Check out Roberts Hawaii.  https://www.rhshorex.com/. They have some good packages for cruisers. Just choose your ship and sailing date on the website.  You can purchase packages for 3, 4, & 5 ports.  It was wayyyyy less expensive than HAL tours.  

 

That being said, we did an interesting HAL tour in Kona.  It was to a seahorse farm. It was quite neat but quite expensive.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Edited October 28, 2018 by Alberta Quilter

[Kartgv]

Another alternative, rent a car.   With the exception of Honolulu, driving in Hawaii is easy and one day car rentals are very inexpensive if booked ahead through someone like Costco or DiscountHawaii.     Do a little research on where you'd like to go and print out maps before your cruise.    I wouldn't drive in Honolulu - traffic is a nightmare.       

 

The Kona Seahorse Farm is really a unique spot, but there's no need to do a ship tour.   You can make a reservation online.   You can pick up a rental car at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel right at the pier (Google Maps says it's now Hertz) or make the short trip (maybe 10 minutes) by taxi or Uber (I think they now have Uber in Kona).    With the rental car, you could then visit some other places such as the coffee plantations or a snorkeling beach.

Edited October 28, 2018 by Kartgv

[boulders]

The seahorse farm often sells out all its tour tickets to cruise ship passengers. You should check at seahorse.com. 

[JimnKaren]

I second the car rental option. If you are an AARP member, you get discounts with Budget. BUT, ya gotta do some research on where you might want to go. Only you can determine that.

Jim

[RMLincoln]

We've done well renting cars in most Hawaii ports, but have not done so in Maui.. the Lahina port is too far from the airport for us to deal with but some folks do it.  So for Oahu, Kona, Hilo and Kauai we have rented cars.  I've gone through discount Hawaii car rentals and they were great.  They are a "bucket shop" and will get you the best deal for the day for that location from one of the major car rental companies.  Always tell them you want pick-up at the cruise pier; then the shuttle will take you out to the airport (or maybe a city location) to do the paperwork and get the car... return car to same location and shuttle back to the ship.  They do it all the time and make it easy.  

We bring a GPS to help us get around the islands, I think they are absolutely the best!  Now people use GPS on their phones and that should be good too if that is what you are used to.   

Just be very security aware and don't leave valuables in the car.  Locals leave their cars unlocked with nothing in them.  We locked the cars when we went for walks but we took our tote bag with us.  

I wouldn't hesitate to rent a car in Oahu; catch the shuttle from the cruise pier, they take you to the airport (not far) and then you can go to wherever you want to go on the island.  If you only want to go to Waikiki I wouldn't bother with a car, just take the city bus., called "The Bus".  I think the fare is $1.50 for seniors with a medicare type card.  

We have booked private tours (kayaking) with pick-up at the pier, worked great.   Hawaii is easy, very tourist oriented and there is ton of good stuff to do, lots of variety.  Happy planning.  m--

[mcrcruiser]

We have been to the Hawiian islands many times over . One ot the best tools to get is the AAA tour book  .If you are not a AAA member ask some one who is to get the Hawaii tour book for you & maps 

The car rental recommendation above is the best rentals for price 

 The only place  not to do your own tour is the Road to  Hana on Maui . Reason is you could miss the ship . If you want that tour take the ships tour 

 

 On Oahu,we recommend seeing Pearl Harbor  ,the Bishop museum & the State Capital ;which can be done in one day .  Or rent a vehicle & go to the Polynesian Cultural Center  ,about a 45 minute drive   .  Get your discount tickets on line . Just Google Polynesian cultural Center . There is a discount on line   .You can not do both in one day 

 

 Have a great trip